King Tides 2026: California Dates Nov. 24-26, Dec. 23-25 and Jan. 21-22, Plus High Tide Times This Week

San Francisco’s highest predicted tide from Tuesday, Oct. 27, to Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026 is 6.67 feet at 12:56 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) on Wednesday, Oct. 28, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tide predictions. The official California king tides come later: Nov. 24-26 and Dec. 23-25, 2026, and Jan. 21-22, 2027, according to the California Coastal Commission’s King Tides Project.

This week’s tides follow the full moon of Oct. 26, and the Commission’s list does not include Oct. 26-29. Treat them as a high-water stretch, not as king tides. NOAA’s Ocean Service says a king tide is a non-scientific term people often use to describe exceptionally high tides.

What are this week’s high tide times?

NOAA Tides & Currents predicts these heights in feet above Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW), in local daylight time. Each cell shows the higher of the day’s two high tides.

Station	Tue., Oct. 27	Wed., Oct. 28	Thu., Oct. 29
San Francisco (PDT)	6.65 ft, 12:15 p.m.	6.67 ft, 12:56 p.m.	6.53 ft, 1:43 p.m.
Seattle (PDT)	11.76 ft, 6:51 a.m.	12.00 ft, 7:44 a.m.	11.99 ft, 8:40 a.m.
Boston (Eastern Daylight Time, EDT)	11.51 ft, 12:21 p.m.	11.60 ft, 1:08 p.m.	11.48 ft, 1:58 p.m.
Charleston (EDT)	6.87 ft, 9:06 a.m.	6.85 ft, 9:57 a.m.	6.73 ft, 10:52 a.m.
Miami (Virginia Key, EDT)	2.98 ft, 10:31 a.m.	2.94 ft, 11:20 a.m.	2.87 ft, 12:11 p.m.

San Francisco and Boston peak on Wednesday, and Seattle’s 12.00 feet on Wednesday is a hair above Thursday’s 11.99. Charleston and Miami are highest on Tuesday. At every station the high tide arrives later each day. The stations use different reference heights, so compare days at one station, not heights between cities.

When are the official California king tides?

The California Coastal Commission lists these statewide dates: Nov. 24-26, 2026, Dec. 23-25, 2026, and Jan. 21-22, 2027. Northern California locations may also include Dec. 22, Jan. 20 and Jan. 23. The third November day, Thursday, Nov. 26, is Thanksgiving Day.

The Commission says it picks the dates from the highest predicted astronomical tides for California. NOAA says higher than normal tides typically occur during a new or full moon and when the moon is at its closest point to Earth, called perigee. Our comparison of the Commission’s dates with the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO): the full moons fall on Nov. 24 (11:48 Coordinated Universal Time) and Dec. 24 (05:42 UT), so the November and December king tide windows sit on those full moons.

How high are the king tides compared with this week?

NOAA predictions for San Francisco and Seattle on the official days, in feet above MLLW. Times from Nov. 1 are Pacific Standard Time (PST), because clocks fall back on Nov. 1. Each cell shows the day’s higher high tide.

Day	San Francisco	Seattle
Tue., Nov. 24, 2026	6.94 ft, 10:05 a.m.	11.93 ft, 5:08 a.m.
Wed., Nov. 25, 2026	7.03 ft, 10:49 a.m.	12.44 ft, 5:57 a.m.
Thu., Nov. 26, 2026	6.95 ft, 11:38 a.m.	12.67 ft, 6:48 a.m.
Wed., Dec. 23, 2026	7.19 ft, 9:46 a.m.	12.26 ft, 5:13 a.m.
Thu., Dec. 24, 2026	7.23 ft, 10:37 a.m.	12.70 ft, 5:58 a.m.
Fri., Dec. 25, 2026	7.08 ft, 11:30 a.m.	12.93 ft, 6:40 a.m.
Thu., Jan. 21, 2027	7.11 ft, 9:39 a.m.	12.26 ft, 5:03 a.m.
Fri., Jan. 22, 2027	7.09 ft, 10:33 a.m.	12.64 ft, 5:37 a.m.

At San Francisco, the highest of these days is Dec. 24 at 7.23 feet, 0.56 foot above this week’s 6.67 feet. Every official San Francisco day is above this week’s peak. Seattle is different: its Nov. 24 high of 11.93 feet is below the 12.00 feet predicted for Oct. 28. These Seattle numbers are NOAA predictions on California’s dates; we could not confirm an official Washington or Oregon king tide list for 2026-27.

Do the predictions include storms?

No. The Coastal Commission says its dates are based on predicted astronomical tides, which do not include storm surges or El Nino impacts. NOAA’s predictions do not include weather either, so real water levels can differ from the tables above. We have not confirmed any coastal flood advisory for this week.

Where can you watch king tides in California?

The Commission asks the public to photograph king tides, because the photos help show how high water affects the coast and how sea level rise is changing the shoreline. Its page lists three community events:

Date	Event	Place	Time
Sat., Nov. 14, 2026	“Rising Tides” education event (Exploratorium and Port of San Francisco)	Ferry Plaza, San Francisco	1-4 p.m.
Tue., Nov. 24, 2026	King Tides Walk	Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Ravenswood Unit, Menlo Park	10:30-11:30 a.m.
Sat., Jan. 23, 2027	King Tides at the Baylands	Palo Alto Baylands	11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Mark the days on our November 2026 printable calendar and December 2026 printable calendar, and print the one-page list below.

Which full moons line up with the king tides?

The Oct. 26 full moon is covered in our Hunter’s Moon guide. The November and December full moons are in our supermoon and Cold Moon story, and the November meteor shower guide covers the sky that month.